THE UNIVERSITY of EDINBURGH

DEGREE REGULATIONS & PROGRAMMES OF STUDY 2017/2018

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DRPS : Course Catalogue : School of Geosciences : Earth Science

Undergraduate Course: Petroleum Systems (EASC10108)

Course Outline
SchoolSchool of Geosciences CollegeCollege of Science and Engineering
Credit level (Normal year taken)SCQF Level 10 (Year 3 Undergraduate) AvailabilityAvailable to all students
SCQF Credits20 ECTS Credits10
SummaryHydrocarbon resources fuel the entire Western-World lifestyle, yet the easily located resources are rapidly depleting, those remaining are in settings that are complex and difficult to access. Prospecting requires a high degree of understanding of both geological and geophysical aspects of basin exploration, and particularly the interplay between these two disciplines. Hydrocarbon exploration provides many intellectual challenges, Interpreting the subsurface, based in limited (and very expensive) data to optimise resource recovery requires a deep understanding of geology and geophysics, with prediction into data-poor areas a key skill. The subject is inter-disciplinary, involving both geology and geophysics.

The course utilises a variety of teaching methods:

Lectures and practical classes cover the petroleum system and the application of geophysical techniques to exploration and other subsurface problems

Field study of Jurassic rocks along the coastline near Helmsdale, NE Scotland, world-class examples of fault-related clastic sedimentation

Interpretation of seismic reflection profiles of a sedimentary succession at the basin margin near Helmsdale.

*** The Helmsdale Field trip will run from the 5th - 8th of September 2017 - Please note, this is prior to the start of semester 1 ***

***Field course locations may change for a variety of reasons, including security risks, increased costs or inability to access field locations. Any changes to the main destination of the field course will be announced as soon as possible.***
Course description Syllabus

The course will cover the following:
- Conventional and unconventional hydrocarbon resources
- Origin of Oil and Gas
- Petroleum Geochemistry
- Seismic attribute analysis
- Source rocks
- Maturation and migration
- Plays, traps and field volumes
- Drilling and wireline logs
- Introduction to North Sea plays
- Reservoirs, source rocks and seals in the field
- Introduction to digital seismic interpretation
- Introduction to digital basin modelling
- Source rocks and reservoirs in the field

W1 Introduction; petroleum systems; unconventional hydrocarbon resources (MW)
P1 Conventional and unconventional hydrocarbon reserves, exploration histories (MW)

L2 Online lecture: Origin of oil and gas; source rocks (MW) ¿ to be viewed before week 2

W2 Online test about Lecture 2; open discussion of questions.
P2 Moderated discussion of future sources of energy

L3: Maturation of source rocks; geochemical compositions of crude oils (MW)

W3 Petroleum Systems, migration, traps, pressure (MW)
P3 Calculating oil reserves in a field (MW)

W4 Drilling and wireline logs (MW)
P4 Formative Practical - Wireline log interpretation (MW)

W5 Introduction to Southern North Sea plays (MW)
P5 Digital seismic interpretation: Southern North Sea (MW).

W6 Introduction to Northern North Sea plays (MW)
P6 Calculation of burial and maturation using PetroMod¿ basin modelling software (MW)

W7 Oilfield core practical in the BGS Lyell Institute (MW)
Depart KB (in front of Grant Institute) by coach, at 09.00, back at 12.00

W8 Other uses of the subsurface including Carbon Capture and Storage (MW)
P8 Geological Carbon Storage (MW)

W9 Principles of rock physics (MC)
P9 Use of geophysical survey techniques to appraise a concealed basin (MW)

W10 Amplitude-versus-offset analysis (MC)
P10 Sedimentology of the Ninian Delta using oilfield data (MW)

W11 Quantitative Seismic Interpretation (MC)
P11 Seismic attribute analysis (MC)

Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
Pre-requisites Students MUST have passed: Global Tectonics and the Rock Cycle (EASC08020) OR Introduction to the Geological Record (EASC08017)
Co-requisites
Prohibited Combinations Other requirements None
Additional Costs Half of the field excursion travel and accommodation (this cost is £115.80 in 2017/18)
Information for Visiting Students
Pre-requisitesNone
High Demand Course? Yes
Course Delivery Information
Academic year 2017/18, Available to all students (SV1) Quota:  None
Course Start Full Year
Timetable Timetable
Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) Total Hours: 200 ( Lecture Hours 11, Supervised Practical/Workshop/Studio Hours 24, Fieldwork Hours 32, Feedback/Feedforward Hours 6, Summative Assessment Hours 65, Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4, Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours 58 )
Assessment (Further Info) Written Exam 50 %, Coursework 50 %, Practical Exam 0 %
Additional Information (Assessment) Written Exam 50%
Coursework 50%

Assessment will consist of:
Field Notebook and A3 summary diagram (25 %)
Report on digital seismic interpretation exercise (25 %)

Exam, 1 hour 30 minutes duration. 2 long-answer questions chosen from 4 options; 1 or more of the questions may have multiple sub-questions; there is no practical element to the exam e.g. no accurate plotting of graphs or use of computers. (50 %)

NOTE: The exam will have questions based upon some or all of the following parts of the course:
The practical classes
The lectures
The Helmsdale field excursion

Assessment deadlines
Field Notebook and A3 summary diagram: 12.00 on 23th of October 2017
Report on seismic interpretation exercise: 12.00 on 23th of October 2017
Feedback Opportunities for feedback are continuous throughout the course, during the practical sessions when the lecturer and demonstrators are available. Students are able to ask for verbal feedback weekly throughout the course informally. Answers to practical classes are available online, for self-assessment of work.

On the field course, volunteers are asked to read their notebook entries for individual field locations, then constructive feedback is given by the leaders and class.

There is also a formative (informal) feedback session on the field excursion for the field notebooks, when a marking scheme is designed by the class, and each student marks a notebook belonging to someone else. The distribution of marks is determined by a show of hands, allowing you to tell how well you did compared to the other students. Short written feedback is also requested.
Exam Information
Exam Diet Paper Name Hours & Minutes
Main Exam Diet S1 (December)1:30
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
  1. Use onshore outcrops to build up an overall picture of a sedimentary basin - how and when rifting initiated, sedimentary facies, subsidence history including effects of fault segmentation on sediment dispersal within the basin
  2. Practice basic field geology skills including field observation; keeping a notebook; synthesis of observations into a geological history
  3. Perform a simple seismic interpretation using industry-standard software (PETREL) including a simple volumetric calculation for an oilfield
  4. Describe the individual components of a petroleum system for both conventional and unconventional hydrocarbon plays
  5. Analyse and understand typical data from petroleum production, e.g. produced volumes of hydrocarbons; a traditional suite of wireline logs
Reading List
Recommended Textbooks: (*, **, *** indicate relative usefulness):

*** Elements of Petroleum Geology, 2nd ed. By Richard Selley, Academic Press 1998.

*** Geological Field Techniques by Angela Coe (Chapters 1 -6) by Wiley-Blackwell, 2010.

** Gluyas JG and Swarbrick R (2004) Petroleum GeoScience. Blackwell. Good for integration of geology and geophysics applied to hydrocarbon exploration and production. ISBN 0632 03767 9

** Kearey, Brooks and Hill (2003). An Introduction to Geophysical Exploration. Blackwell. Good for seismic reflection, magnetics and gravity, wireline logs.

* Sedimentary Rocks in the Field (Geological Field Guide) by Maurice E Tucker

* The Field Description of Sedimentary Rocks (Geological Society of London Handbook Series) by Maurice E Tucker



Also refer to:

Hunt, JM 1996 Petroleum Geochemistry and Geology, 2nd Edition, Freeman and Co, New York.

Rider M 1996 The Geological interpretation of well logs, 2nd Edition. Whittles Publishing, Caithness

Glennie, KW, 1998 Introduction to the Petroleum Geology of the North Sea. 4th Ed. Blackwell Science


The field excursion always has students with a wide range of field expertise, we do expect some people without much geology. The books below on general sedimentology would be suitable background reading:

*Understanding the Earth (Chapter 15, Sedimentary Basins; Chapter 16, Clastic Sediments)

* Earth's Dynamic Systems 9th Edition (Chapter 5, Sedimentary Rocks; Chapter 10 Weathering)

*Sedimentology & Sedimentary Basins, from Turbulence to Tectonics (M. Leeder) (Part 6: Continental sediments, Part 7: Marine sediments)

*Elements of Petroleum Geology, Selley, RC, 2nd Edition 1998 (Chapter 6: The Reservoir)
Additional Information
Graduate Attributes and Skills Not entered
KeywordsHydrocarbons,Reservoir,Seal,Petroleum System,Reserves
Contacts
Course organiserDr Mark Wilkinson
Tel: (0131 6)50 5943
Email: Mark.Wilkinson@ed.ac.uk
Course secretaryMiss Sarah Thomas
Tel: (0131 6)50 8510
Email: Sarah.Thomas@ed.ac.uk
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